Evanston students will be pursuing computer coding challenges throughout December as part of the new Code65 program, a month-long computer science initiative that builds on the national “Hour of Code” movement.Wednesday, December 13, 2017

On Nov. 16 Dr. Susanna Fostiak of Lumen Optical Evanston gave eye examinations to 10 students from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Literary and Fine Arts School (King Arts) to determine whether they needed glasses. All 10 received prescription glasses.Wednesday, December 13, 2017

On Dec. 4, the District 65 School Board unanimously decided to approve converting Bessie Rhodes magnet school to a Two-Way Immersion, global studies school on a phased-in basis, starting with kindergarten next year, and then adding one grade level year by year.Wednesday, December 13, 2017

At the District 65 School Board’s meeting on Nov. 21, twelve parents gave passionate pleas to maintain Bessie Rhodes as a global studies magnet school and not to gradually convert it to a Two-Way Immersion (TWI) school. A group of parents also presented an alternative proposal to establish a TWI community school at the Family Focus building in the Fifth Ward. The five School Board members who were present all expressed support for converting Bessie Rhodes into an all TWI school. In addition several Board members expressed support for exploring the option of establishing a school in the Fifth Ward.Wednesday, November 22, 2017

On Nov. 6, District 65 administrators presented what they called a “crosswalk” between the recommendations contained in a Racial and Educational Equity Report prepared by Corrie Wallace in May 2017 and District 65’s five-year Strategic Plan adopted by the Board in March 2015.Wednesday, November 29, 2017

“We need a Geometry course infused with Algebra … When (we) examined the SAT scores, it surfaced that only 23% of students or 178 out 756 met or exceeded standards for heart of Algebra sub-scores."Wednesday, November 29, 2017

Evanston Township High School District 202 officials asked the City on Nov. 27 to consider a zoning text amendment that would allow them to lease space at 1233-35 Hartrey Ave. for a special education day school.Wednesday, November 29, 2017

At the Nov. 6 District 65 School Board meeting, administrators recommended adding two strands of the Two-Way Immersion (TWI) program at Dr. Bessie Rhodes School of Global Studies. The recommendation is to start TWI in the kindergarten classes at Bessie Rhodes in the fall of 2018, and then to expand the program by one grade level each year up through eighth grade. Rather than rejecting Bessie Rhodes as the site or considering another school as the site, most Board members seemed to focus on how to make the transition as smooth as possible and in the least disruptive way possible.Tuesday, November 7, 2017